January 2008 Sightings
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| December 2007 <<< | Back to Archive | >>> February 2008 |
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| 31st January 2008 Gibraltar |
Five Greater Scaup present, in the channel along the sea wall - the state of the tide meant the channel was fairly full. Due to the depth of the water they were feeding like dabbling ducks, i.e. they were not upending but just putting their heads and necks underwater. (S. Feeney). | |||||||||||||||
| 31st January 2008 Sligo Harbour |
A total of five Iceland Gulls were seen in the Sligo Harbour area today - a very pale bird was at the causeway on the Rosses Point Road, the very dark bird was at the Cartron Sewage outfall, and two cream-coloured individuals were at Gibraltar point (S. Feeney). A second-winter Iceland Gull was at Connacht Gold - see photo of this bird on the Home Page (D. Skehan). On reviewing some photos, it seems likely that this second-winter bird was also present on the 29th at Quay Street (M. Casey). | |||||||||||||||
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| 30th January 2008 Ballymote area |
A good number of Whooper Swans was in a field along the Ballymote-Castlebaldwin Rd (82 counted but there may have been more as they were not all visible from the road). Another large flock, maybe close to 100, has been seen in the last couple of weeks in a field between Ballymote and Gurteen (Michael Bell). | |||||||||||||||
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| 30th January 2008 Lough Arrow |
The immature male Lesser Scaup was in Rinnbaun Bay with the Tufted Ducks, but was quite distant from the usual viewing point at the water treatment station, along reeds at the far shore. The male Ring-necked Duck was in the same area in the bay by the causeway to Muck Island, on the north-eastern shore (near the stone bridge with the wooden railing). There was no sign of the female Ring-necked Duck seen last week in Rinnbaun bay nor the second male Ring-necked Duck found at Ballinafad last Sunday. Good numbers of Tufted Ducks, Coots and Little Grebes (S. Feeney). | |||||||||||||||
| 29th January 2008 Lissadell |
The Pink-footed Goose was with part of the Barnacle flock at Lissadell (S. Feeney). | |||||||||||||||
| 29th January 2008 Sligo Harbour |
Two Iceland Gulls (the dark and cream-coloured individuals) were at Cartron (S. Feeney) while the palest bird was at Quay Street car park (D. Skehan, M. Casey). | |||||||||||||||
| 28th January 2008 Sligo Harbour |
Two Iceland Gulls - the palest and darkest of the three birds seen on Friday 25th, see below - were re-sighted at Quay Street car park (D. Skehan). | |||||||||||||||
| 27th January 2008 Streedagh |
Two Long-tailed Ducks (P. Keogh). | |||||||||||||||
| 27th January 2008 Lough Colgagh |
The Tufted x Ring-necked Duck hybrid is still present on Lough Colgagh, which is along the main Sligo-Dromahair Road, and its appearance makes an interesting comparison and contrast with the male Ring-necked Duck seen at Muck Island on Lough Arrow (P. Keogh). | |||||||||||||||
| 27th January 2008 Lissadell |
One Richardson's Cackling Goose was seen with at least 2,000 Barnacle Geese (S. McAvoy, N. Hatch). |
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| 27th January 2008 Carraroe |
A male Common Buzzard flew over the N4 on the Sligo side of the Carraroe roundabout (D. Skehan). | |||||||||||||||
| 27th January 2008 Lough Arrow |
The Lesser Scaup was re-sighted at Rinnbaun Bay (D. Skehan) and the male Ring-necked Duck was at Muck Island on the north-eastern shore - at the stone bridge with the wooden railing, on the way out to Muck Island (P. Keogh, D. Skehan). One adult male Ring-necked Duck (presumably a second bird and Lough Arrow's fourth American duck this winter!), ca. 20 Pochard, 30-40 Tufties and at least 10 Little Grebes were seen in the bay at Ballinafad village (S. McAvoy, N. Hatch). No ducks were present in Rinnbaun Bay later in the day, probably because of disturbance in the area caused by water skiers. |
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| 27th January 2008 Cartron |
The well-marked dark Iceland Gull was present for most of morning at the Cartron sewage outlet (D. Skehan, P. Keogh) | |||||||||||||||
| 26th January 2008 Lissadell |
One Richardson's Cackling Goose and a Glaucous Gull were in the Goose field at Lissadell (per J. Coveney) | |||||||||||||||
| 26th January 2008 Rinnbaun Bay, Lough Arrow |
The immature male Lesser Scaup is showing well this morning (S. Geraty). | |||||||||||||||
| 25th January 2008 Lough Arrow |
The adult male Ring-necked Duck was seen well from the north-eastern shore of Lough Arrow (D. Skehan) | |||||||||||||||
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| 25th January 2008 Quay Street Car Park, Sligo Town |
Three first-winter Iceland Gulls were in Sligo Harbour today at Quay Street car Park. One of the birds was very dark and heavily marked with dark primary feather tips (M. Casey, S. Feeney, D. Skehan). | |||||||||||||||
| 24th January 2008 Union Wood, Collooney |
A Common Buzzard was soaring over Union Wood at lunchtime (N. Mugan). | |||||||||||||||
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| 24th January 2008 Lough Arrow |
A Ring-necked Duck was found in the bay north-east of Muck island on the eastern shore at Grid Reference G125796 (S. Feeney). The Lesser Scaup drake and the female Ring-necked Duck were still with the Tufted Duck flock at Rinnbaun Bay (S. Feeney, M. Crowley, M. Bell). Note:
The diving ducks in Rinnbaun Bay today were very actively feeding by diving for small dark mussels, probably Zebra mussels, which seem to cover every inch of every stone and rock in this part of the lake. It is somewhat ironic that this recent arrival, an invasive Asian mollusc which is well established and widespread in the United States, is probably familiar fare for the American vagrants - see a discussion of the diet of diving ducks on the American Great Lakes here. Because of the low flesh/high shell make-up of Zebra mussels, they yield relatively small amounts of nutrients, and so are consumed in large volumes. The mussels are swallowed whole and crushed in the bird's grit-filled gizzard before being digested. Tufted Ducks may consume more than 1.5 kg per day each in winter - incredibly this flock of 40+ birds could be clearing more than 50kg of Zebra mussels per day from Lough Arrow. It will be interesting to see if wintering diving duck numbers on Lough Arrow increase given the wealth of this food resource on the lake. Further reading: "Wintering Tufted Ducks Aythya fuligula Diving for Zebra Mussels Dreissena polymorpha Balance Feeding Costs within Narrow Margins of Their Energy Budget" by Joep J. de Leeuw, Mennobart R. van Eerden, G. Henk Visser; Journal of Avian Biology, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Jun., 1999), pp. 182-192. An abstract of this article is here. |
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| 23rd January 2008 Rinnbaun Bay, Lough Arrow |
A first-winter Iceland Gull, which was much whiter than either of the two photographed on the 21st (see below) was at Quay St car Park, implying that there are still at least three Iceland Gulls in Sligo Harbour. A well marked Iceland Gull was at the Cartron sewage outfall (M. Casey). | |||||||||||||||
| 23rd January 2008 Rinnbaun Bay, Lough Arrow |
A female Ring-necked Duck was found with the immature male Lesser Scaup; both birds were with the Tufted Duck flock in Rinnbaun Bay on Lough Arrow (S. Feeney). |
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| LEITRIM NEWS | The drake Blue-winged Teal is still at Cloonfinnan Lough near Mohill, Co. Leitrim (as of 19th January), and a 'record shot' of the bird is on the Leitrim sightings page and a location map for Cloonfinnan Lough is here. | |||||||||||||||
| 21st January 2008 Quay St Car Park |
Two first-winter Iceland Gulls were on the roof of the riverfront apartment block (M. Casey) | |||||||||||||||
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| 20th January 2008 Quay St Car Park & Cartron |
Two first-winter Iceland Gulls seen at Quay St Car Park and at Cartron during the iWebs count, but given the timing of the sightings, the same birds may have been seen twice (M. Enright, R. Burnhams, J. McEvoy). One first-winter Iceland Gull was roosting on the Garravogue River just upstream of Hughes Bridge until almost nightfall, when it flew towards Cartron (M. Casey). | |||||||||||||||
| 20th January 2008 Cummeen Strand |
One first-winter Iceland Gull seen during the iWebs count (H. Boland, K. Ryan). | |||||||||||||||
| 20th January 2008 Cummeen Strand |
1500 Barnacle Geese were at Ballyconnell (D. Cotton). Together with the near-simultaneous Lissadell observation below, and a number of informal counts over the winter, there is every reason to believe that the Sligo Barnacle flock now exceeds 3,000 geese, a marvellous recovery from a low figure of 250 birds in the early 1970s. | |||||||||||||||
| 20th January 2008 Lissadell |
1500 Barnacle Geese were counted in the Goose field during the iWebs count, joined later in the afternoon by 300 more. Both Richardson's Cackling Geese and the Pink-footed Goose were with the flock (M. Bell, D. Skehan). | |||||||||||||||
| 20th January 2008 Drumcliff Bay |
At least three, and possibly four Little Egrets seen during the iWebs count (M. Bell, D. Skehan). Together with the Ballysadare Bay observation below, there now appears to be at least five and possibly six Little Egrets in Sligo Bay. Note: Our colleagues in BirdWatch Mayo observed eight Little Egrets at Killala on New Year's Day (RA Leak), but only four were located there when the area was re-checked this week (S. Meaney). It is tempting to make a connection, but one way or another, it seems likely that we will soon have breeding Little Egrets in Sligo, if it hasn't already happened. |
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| 20th January 2008 Ross, Killaraght (ESE of Lough Gara) |
51 Whooper Swans at M757985 (M. Creegan). | |||||||||||||||
| 20th January 2008 Lomcloon, Monasteraden |
12 Whooper Swans at M655988 (M. Creegan). | |||||||||||||||
| 20th January 2008 Tanrego/Streamstown |
Three Little Egrets seen during the iWebs count (T. Hunter, J. Fletcher, D. & M Willis) | |||||||||||||||
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| 19th January 2008 Lissadell |
One of the Richardson's Cackling Geese and the Pink-footed Goose was with the Barnacle flock in the Goose Field (P. Keogh) | |||||||||||||||
| 19th January 2008 Cartron Marsh |
One adult Mediterranean Gull was seen at the traditional high tide roost behind the bus-stop in Cartron. This bird had some dark primary feather shafts and may not have been a full adult - in addition there was some yellowish staining of the abdominal feathers - oil? (D. Skehan) | |||||||||||||||
| 19th January 2008 Half Moon Bay Hazelwood |
An adult Mediterranean Gull was with the Black-headed Gulls that frequent the shore beside the picnic area (D. Skehan) | |||||||||||||||
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| 19th January 2008 Raghly |
A Peregrine Falcon flushed waders at the head, did a circuit, and flew off towards Sligo (S. Feeney). | |||||||||||||||
| 19th January 2008 Sligo Harbour |
At least two, possibly three, first-winter Iceland Gulls (S.Feeney). | |||||||||||||||
| 19th January 2008 Rinnbaun Bay, Lough Arrow |
Immature male Lesser Scaup still present with Tufted Ducks (M. Bell, S. Feeney, M. Davis, P. Keogh). The bird was giving good views in the afternoon and the fine barring of the back and scapular feathers (vermiculation) was clearly seen (D. Cotton, N. Raftery) | |||||||||||||||
| 19th January 2008 King's Gully, King's Mountain |
Male
Hen Harrier and 18 Snow
Buntings seen in King's Gully and six Chough
were seen at the top of the Benbulben Plateau. The Hen
Harrier
came from the direction of Knocknarea while the Snow Bunting flock came
from the direction of Glencar (N.
Mugan). |
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| 18th January 2008 Rinnbaun Bay, Lough Arrow |
A first-winter male Lesser Scaup was
found at Rinnbaun Bay, Lough Arrrow today (S. Feeney). This
diving duck is a rare American vagrant. This bird was
glimpsed briefly at last light
yesterday evening, and seen well enough today to confirm the
identification. Some mediocre 'record shots' of this bird are below, with further images here. Directions to Rinnbaun Bay (Grid Reference IG780100) Take Dublin Road out of Castlebaldwin, turn left opposite Aghanagh Church of Ireland (i.e. turn left onto the old Dublin road), this junction is signposted for water treatment works, very short distance from main road take the first left to small pier on lake shore, beside water treatment works compound. The Lesser Scaup was with the Tufted Duck flock, which was in the middle of the bay today, outside the reedbed to the right of the pier. |
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| 18th January 2008 Lislary, Ballinfull |
A flock of 80-90 Eider were feeding actively offshore (D. McLoughlin). | |||||||||||||||
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